Isla's Profile

A versatile rider who has spent her career enjoying success on and off road, Scot Isla Short is fully focused on the mountain bike circuit in Paris as she looks ahead to the 2024 Paris  Olympic Games, hoping to be selected for the Games for the first time in her career.

Starting her cycling journey at the Innerleithen Cycle Club near her home in the town of Peebles in the Scottish Borders, Short threw herself into competition from an early age, taking part in cyclocross national championships from the tender age of 14.

As a junior, Short proved her strength and potential in the mountain bike discipline, winning the National Cross-country Championships at junior level in 2014, one place ahead of GBCT teammate Evie Richards.

Short made the step up to under-23 level in 2017, and her high point that year was a fourth place in the cross-country event at the UCI World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy.

The following year presented a unique opportunity for Short, as she was selected to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games where she finished fifth in the mountain bike race and also took to the road race in Gold Coast, Australia.

2019 saw Short take on her first full mountain bike season at elite level, with a 14th position in Lenzerheide, Switzerland her highest placement that year. The following year, Short was able to bounce back from the covid-19 lockdown with an incredible ride at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Leogang, Austria, to finish in fifth position.

Riding for the Ghost Factory Racing team for the past two seasons, Short has notched up a series of solid results in the UCI World Series. Short also became British national champion twice more, in 2021 at cross-country distance and 2023 at marathon distance. She also returned to the cyclo-cross field in 2023, coming third in the national Ttrophy round at Gravesend. So far in 2024, her best result is a top 10 finish at the Shimano Supercup Massi La Nuca.

Outside of cycling, Short enjoys being in the outdoors in her homeland walking with her dogs and kayaking, and favours training in the Tweed Valley over anywhere else in the world. Short will hope to form a part of the GB team that travels to Paris to take on the mountain bike events in August.

If you have been inspired to get on a bike...

Get Involved